Nightlife information pager

ABSTRACT

A novel paging technology allows a group of subscribers to share and take advantage of nightlife information. A service provider collects and stores such information. The information is then compared to a profile for each subscriber detailing what type of information that subscriber is interested in receiving. Information may further be screened for that relevant to an particular area where the subscriber&#39;s pager is determined to be. Information matching the interest profile and/or location of each subscriber is then transmitted to that subscriber&#39;s pager. Each subscriber&#39;s pager may include an input device, such as a virtual keyboard, so that each subscriber can submit information to the system to be shared with other subscribers.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless pagers.More particularly, the present invention relates to an application ofwireless pager technology as a means of collecting and disseminatinginformation regarding an area's nightlife.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Portable radio receivers and transceivers, such as wireless pagers, havebecome increasingly popular as a means of communication. Pagers aretypically carried by users who wish or need to receive communicationswhen they are away from a telephone or computer, or are unable topredict where they may be reached at a given time.

In general, the user of a pager purchases the unit and enters into acontract with a service provider. As shown in FIG. 1, when someone 12wishes to page a particular user, they contact the user's serviceprovider 11, identify the user to be paged (perhaps with a personalidentification number), and may give a message to the service provider11 that is to be broadcast to the user's pager 15.

The service provider 11 maintains a network of radio transceiver basestations 13, 14 which are spread throughout the service area covered bythe service provider. The transmitting base stations 13 are distributedso that transmissions from at least one base station can be received bya pager 15 anywhere in the service area.

In a simplistic system, when the service provider 11 receives a requestto page a user 15, the page is broadcast by all the base stations 13 inthe system. Thus, if the pager 15 is located anywhere in the servicearea, it will receive the page. The pager 15 will then alert the userthat a page has been received with, for example, an audible or vibratoryalert signal.

In a more sophisticated system, the pager 15 may have the capability tonot only receive a transmission from the service provider's system, butalso to transmit an answer back to the system. This is referred to astwo-way paging.

With these advances, the usefulness of pagers as a means ofcommunication has expanded rapidly. Service providers have encouragedthis expansion by experimenting with pagers as a means to disseminateinformation of interest to pager users. For example, as described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,508,695 to Nelson et al., incorporated herein byreference, a one-way pager system is used to relay sports or financialinformation to a pager user who has contracted with the service providerfor that service.

However, there are many potential, undiscovered applications of pagertechnology which may provide pager users with, as yet unheard of,abilities to communicate. This is particularly true of the developingtwo-way pager systems. Accordingly, there is a need for improved methodsand applications of pager technology to meet the information, recreationand communication demands of pager users.

In particular, there are some types of information which are accurateand have value for relatively short periods of time. For example,information about the nightlife of an area must be current, in somecases up to the minute, in order for people to best find the activitiesand entertainment they prefer.

For a variety of reasons, the access to information about availableactivities and entertainment maybe difficult to obtain for a personlooking for something to do. For example, a person seeking entertainmentmight not have immediate or ready access to a publication advertisingpossible activities. This is particularly true if the decision to findsuch an activity is made on the spur of the moment.

Moreover promoters of recreational events may not have or may not careto invest the funds necessary to widely advertise the event. This isparticularly true of relatively small events or engagements atindividual clubs. Alternatively, advertising that is purchased may not,for whatever reason, reach those who would be interested in the event.Finally, in the event of a spontaneous or unpublicized event,information regarding the event may only be available to people on thescene.

Accordingly, there is a need for a means to collect and disseminate suchnightlife information. In particular, there is a need for a means tocollect such information from the various and widespread points fromwhich it is available and a means to quickly provided the informationwhile it is still accurate and useful to those who are potentiallyinterested.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to meet the above identifiedneeds and others. More particularly, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide a novel paging system and a method of using a thesame to provide a means for collecting and disseminating currentnightlife information so that the value of the information is of maximumvalue to those who are interested in receiving it.

Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention willbe set forth in the description which follows or may be learned by thoseskilled in the art through reading these materials or practicing theinvention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be achievedthrough the means recited in the attached claims.

To achieve the stated and other objects of the present invention, asembodied and described below, the invention may encompass a pagingsystem including: a nightlife information database; a processor foraccessing the nightlife information database; a transmitter fortransmitting the information to a pager; and a profile database ofsubscriber profiles. Each of the profiles describe types of nightlifeinformation a particular subscriber wishes to receive. The processorselects information to be transmitted to the particular subscriber inaccordance with the particular subscriber's profile.

The system of the present invention may further encompass a pagerhaving: a display; an antenna; and a controller. The nightlifeinformation transmitted by the paging system is received by the antennaand displayed on the display.

The paging system of the present invention may further comprise areceiver for receiving transmissions from the pager. The pager mayfurther comprise an input device for inputting data to the controller.The data may be transmitted with the antenna to the receiver of thepaging system.

The input device may be a virtual keyboard, and may include a transmiticon and an inquiry displayed on the display such that data istransmitted by the pager to the receiver in response to the selection ofthe transmit icon and a request for nightlife information is transmittedby the pager to the receiver in response to the selection of the inquiryicon. According to the principles of the present invention, theprocessor of the paging system may add data transmitted from the pagerto the nightlife information database.

Finally, the present invention may comprise means for detecting thelocation of a pager, and means for transmitting to the pager nightlifeinformation which is relevant to that location.

The present invention may also encompass a method of using a pagingsystem including the steps of: compiling a database of nightlifeinformation; accessing the nightlife information database with aprocessor; transmitting the information to a pager with a transmitter;and compiling a profile database of subscriber profiles.

Each of the profiles may describe types of nightlife information aparticular subscriber wishes to receive. The method of the presentinvention may also include the step of selecting information to betransmitted to the particular subscriber in accordance with theparticular subscriber's interest profile.

The method of the present invention, may further include the steps of:providing a pager; displaying data on a display of the pager; andreceiving transmitted information with an antenna of the pager. The stepof receiving data may further comprise receiving nightlife informationtransmitted by the paging system. The step of displaying data mayfurther comprise displaying the nightlife information.

The method of the present invention may further include the steps of:receiving transmissions from a pager with a receiver of the pagingsystem; inputting data to a controller of the pager with an input deviceprovided on the pager; and transmitting the data to the paging system.The step of inputting data may further comprise displaying a transmiticon. The step of transmitting data may further comprise selecting thetransmit icon to transmit data entered with the input device.

The method of the present invention may further include the step ofadding data transmitted from the pager to the nightlife informationdatabase. Finally, the method may include the steps of determining thelocation of a pager with the paging system; and screening theinformation for information relevant to that location.

Finally, the method of the present invention may include the steps ofdisplaying an inquiry icon on the display of the pager; and selectingsaid inquiry icon to transmit a request for nightlife information.Accordingly, the steps of accessing the nightlife information databaseand transmitting nightlife information to a pager are performed inresponse to the transmitted request for information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention and are apart of the specification. Together with the following description, thedrawings demonstrate and explain the principles of the presentinvention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional two-way paging networkwith which the present invention may be practiced.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a pager according to the principles of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the key components of the system of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Using the drawings, the preferred embodiment of the present inventionwill now be explained. Under the principles of the present invention,pager technology can be adapted to provide a means for collecting anddisseminating nightlife information while it is accurate and valuable tothose interested in receiving it.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, under the principles of the present invention,a service provider maintains a paging system 10. When a subscribercontracts with the service provider for pager service, the subscribermay indicate a desire for the service provider's nightlife informationservice. Under the principles of the present invention, the subscribermay then provide the service provider with an interest profile.

A subscriber's profile lists a variety of information about thesubscriber's interests. For example, a subscriber's profile willindicate what clubs, bands, types of music, events, foods etc. in whichthe subscriber has an interest. The service provider will store thesubscriber's profile in a database 44 for use by the paging system 10.The subscriber may also contact the service provider to update theprofile as necessary.

As described above, a pager and paging system may allow for one-way ortwo-way paging. The principles and features of the present invention maybe practiced with either type of paging system. However, the preferredembodiment is practiced with a two-way paging system.

In a one-way paging system, the service provider must collect thenightlife information desired by subscribers. This information, whencollected, is stored in a database 45. Because the nightlife informationis typically only accurate and, therefore, valuable for a short period,a central processor 46 monitors the information in the database 45.

The processor 46 also accesses the database 44 of subscriber profiles.Using the profile information, the processor 46 will screen theinformation in database 45 to determine whether any of it is of interestto particular subscribers. When the processor 46 identifies informationin database 45 in which a particular subscriber would be interested, theprocessor 46, using base station 43, transmits the information to thatsubscriber's pager 15.

The pager 15 is provided with an antenna 42 to receive transmissionsfrom the base stations of the paging system 10. A controller 41 in pager15 receives the information via antenna 42, displays the information ona display 24, and alerts the subscriber. The subscriber may then readthe information on display 24 and decide whether to take advantage ofthe nightlife information.

As noted, the nightlife information with which the present invention isconcerned is often difficult to obtain. In a one-way paging system, theservice provider may collect information for database 45 by monitoringnightlife information in area publications, to the extent that suchinformation is published. The service provider may also make its ownefforts to collect the information.

The service provider may be assisted in this endeavor by the owners ofnight clubs and the promoters of events. Knowing that the serviceprovider can quickly and cheaply target people who would likely beinterested in a particular entertainment, club owners and eventpromoters may contact the service provider with nightlife informationfor the service provider to disseminate to subscribers.

Further, pursuant to an arrangement between the service provider and aclub owner or event promoter, or at the instance of a club owner orevent promoter, subscribers to the nightlife information service may beoffered special promotions or accorded VIP treatment. The serviceprovider could transmit notice of the special promotion to subscriber'swho would then show the transmission on their pager displays to receivethe terms of the promotion.

An even more effective means of gathering nightlife information involvesthose who subscribe to the nightlife information service. Subscribersmay serve as an information gathering network. Because subscribers willhave an interest in the service provider's ability to collect the typeof information they wish to receive, they may telephone the serviceprovider with nightlife information they become aware of. Theinformation can then be disseminated to other subscribers who may beinterested. Accordingly, the subscribers themselves become aninformation gathering network.

This method of accumulating nightlife information is facilitated in thepreferred embodiment of the present invention which is practiced with atwo-way paging system. As mentioned above, in a two-way paging system,the subscribers may use their pagers 15 to send messages to the pagingsystem 10.

An input device 49 is provided on pager 15 with which the subscriber canenter a message regarding nightlife information of which the subscriberhas become aware. Controller 41 then transmits the input, using antenna42, to the paging system 10. The information is received by processor46, through base station 43, and stored in database 45. The informationcan then be matched to subscriber profile parameters and transmitted tothose subscribers who may be interested.

As shown in FIG. 2, under the principles of the present invention, theinput device of pager 21 may be a virtual keyboard 26. The virtualkeyboard 26 consists, in part, of the letters of the alphabet and digits0 to 9 displayed on display 24 of pager 21. The pager 21 is alsoprovided with buttons 23 for moving a cursor (not shown) on display 24.

When a particular letter or number of the virtual keyboard ishighlighted by the cursor, the subscriber can press button 22 to selectthat letter or number. The selected letter or number is added to amessage which is preferably displayed on display 24. By repeating thisprocedure a number of times, the subscriber can produce a messageconveying nightlife information.

When the message is complete, the subscriber selects a transmit icon 25using the cursor and buttons 23, 22 in the manner described above. Thepager 21 then transmits the message to the paging system fordissemination to other subscribers. Those skilled in the art willrecognize that other equivalent alphanumeric input devices could be usedunder the principles of the present invention in place of the virtualkeyboard 26.

In a two-way paging system, the subscriber also has greater control overwhen nightlife information is received. For example, according to theprinciples of the present invention, the pager 21 may be provided withan information inquiry icon 27. When this icon is selected as describedabove using buttons 23, 22, a request for nightlife information istransmitted to the service provider.

Upon receipt of the request signal, the service provider will retrievethe interest profile of the subscriber who sent the inquiry anddetermine if any current nightlife information matches that profile. Anyinformation that matches is then transmitted to the subscriber asbefore.

To further refine the usefulness of information sent to subscribersunder the principles of the present invention, the nightlife informationsent to the subscriber may be specific to particular areas designated bythe subscriber in the subscriber's profile. Alternatively, because atwo-way paging system can determine the rough location of a pagertransmitting data to the system, the nightlife information transmittedto that pager may be specific to a general area where the pager islocated at any given time.

With reference to FIG. 1, the method of determining the general locationof a pager 15 using a two-way paging network will now be brieflydescribed. Because the strength of a transmission from a pager 15 istightly constrained by the battery power available to the pager, atwo-way paging system must include a greater number of receiving basestations 14 than transmitting base stations 13.

The receiving base stations 14 are smaller and distributed more widelythat transmitting base stations 13 in order to receive the relativelyweak transmissions broadcast by individual pagers 15. The receiving basestations 14 must be sufficient in number and distribution to receivepager transmissions originating anywhere in the area served by theservice provider.

In a two-way paging system, a transmission from a pager 15 may bereceived by one or more receiving base stations 14. By determining whichbase station 14 is receiving the pager signal or, if more than one basestation is receiving the pager signal, which base station is receivingthe stronger signal, the general location of the pager 15 and, thus, thepager user can be roughly determined. This is based on the generallytrue principle that the base station 14 receiving the strongest signalfrom the pager 15 is geographically closest to that pager.

Accordingly, the processor 46 of the paging system 10 can first screenthe available nightlife information for that information in which asubscriber has expressed an interest in his or her subscriber profile.The system can then, or alternatively, determine the rough location ofthe subscriber's pager and send only that nightlife information which isspecific to that area.

The preceding description has been presented only to illustrate anddescribe the invention. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limitthe invention to any precise form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations are possible in light of the above teaching.

The preferred embodiment was chosen and described in order to bestexplain the principles of the invention and its practical application.The preceding description is intended to enable others skilled in theart to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and withvarious modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A paging system comprising:an informationdatabase from which subscribers have subscribed to receive information;a processor for accessing said information database to provide saidinformation to subscribers; a transmitter for transmitting informationfrom said database to said subscribers; a pager of a subscriber forreceiving and displaying said transmitted information; and a user inputdevice for inputting data to said pager, said pager further comprising atransmitter for transmitting said input data to said processor; whereinsaid processor adds data transmitted from said pager to said informationdatabase so that said information transmitted by said pager is accessedfrom said database and transmitted to other subscribers.
 2. The pagingsystem of claim 1, wherein said user input device is a virtual keyboard.3. The paging system of claim 1, wherein said user input device includesa transmit icon displayed on said pager such that said input data istransmitted by said pager to said processor in response to selection ofsaid transmit icon.
 4. The paging system of claim 1, wherein saidinformation transmitted to a pager comprises nightlife information. 5.The paging system of claim 1, wherein said user input device includes aninquiry icon displayed on said display such that a request forinformation is transmitted by said pager to said processor in responseto selection of said inquiry icon.
 6. The paging system of claim 1,wherein said paging system further comprises means to determine alocation of said pager, and said information transmitted to said pageris specific to said determined location.